The Boy From The Forest

The Castle of The King.

The entire castle was in a tizzy. Singers were singing; dancers were dancing; the coachmen were preparing the gilded carriage. The cream and gold horses that would pull the gilded carriage were excited as well. They could tell that something was up.

The King and King Beauford, Father of Princess Icelandia, were chatting for a few minutes before the ceremony.

“King Beauford, we have present Kings and Queens from the forty-seven kingdoms. The whole center floor of the cathedral is reserved just for royalty. The Dukes and Earls and Viscounts will be sitting on the left and right wings, since they are of lesser rank.”

“I know my Icelandia is very excited about marrying Prince Eric. She talks about him all the time.”

There are times when you have to say what is expected, rather than the actual truth. The truth was that after their so-called dance, Princess Icelandia had walked away from Prince Eric without a backward glance. King Beauford hoped things between them warmed up.

Princess Icelandia was sitting in her chambers. There were at least twenty people in a space not all that big. Icelandia was more nervous than she had ever been in her life. But then she had never been a bride before. She had nibbled a honey wafer and sipped just a little mint tea. Best to not push it too far.

Prince Eric sat in his room, his groomsmen clustered around him. They were all just waiting until time for the ceremony, and Eric was bored, fidgety. The ceremony was more than two hours away. That would be a lot of standing around all dressed up while Johanaston, Sorcerer of The King, talked about a boatload of boring things. Eric had no idea what Johanaston ever talked about, since he never paid any attention. The wedding reception would give him five or six hours to eat a meal. Prince Eric prided himself on bolting down his food like a starving wolf, so five or six hours was way too long. In time of war, a knight did not have time for long fancy meals; he gulped it down as fast as he could. So the reception also would have a lot of extra time.

The Oracle gave a gasp. Something was wrong. She had been fiddling with her cook fire, trying to get it to heat her stew. Now all she could feel was this sense of wrongness. Something was there that was not supposed to be there. It was beyond her power to do anything about it or to even comprehend what she was seeing.

Johanaston was preparing himself. He was enjoying a few moments of quiet.

Discontinuity!! Pain!! Chaos!!

“What is the meaning of this?” Demanded Johanaston, not aloud.

“I have seen what is now, and what will be. There will be war, death, and chaos. Something is intruding, something that had not been before. There is fighting, chaos, death. Plans that had been carefully laid are cast down into the dust. Other things rise up to take their place. Things are coming together, until suddenly everything is together. Then just as suddenly, they start breaking apart. At the end, things are as they had been in the beginning, only different.”

“First of all, who are you?” Johanaston could be a very down to earth mystic.

“I am she who is called the Oracle. I live in a hut in easy walking distance to several villages in the Forest. Until right now, I did not think any of this was real. I was just saying phrases I had heard others say.”

“Oh it is real, sister. More than you know, even now. Tell me more about this vision of yours.”

“There are those who have come here from a place far away. That they are here, it is a violation of that which should be. Many things that have been the same for long ages will be swept away, and other things will take their place.”

The connection between them began to fade. Johanaston did not try to keep it active. This frantic woman had told him all that she knew. Now Johanaston had to decide what to do with the royal wedding.

He would do nothing and say nothing. That was the only answer.

Two hours later

The cathedral was packed. All the windows were open to bring in as much air as possible. Princess Icelandia and her Father, King Beauford, were standing in a little room just off the main entrance. She was wearing her gorgeous white wedding gown. On her feet were dainty little slippers, and in her hands was a bouquet of violets and primroses. On her head was the traditional veil, so “nobody could see who she was.” She had kind of laughed at that.

The organist was doing the prelude to the wedding march.

Tah dah, dah, dah dah

Tah dah, dah, dah dah

Any minute she would launch into the actual “here comes the bride” and then Princess Icelandia would march down the aisle on the arm of her Father. They stood, waiting to hear “here comes the bride” before stepping into the aisle.

Clump clump!!

Whinny!! Neigh!

King Beauford was puzzled. It sounded like horses had come into the cathedral. It smelled like it too. Now there were shouting and excited voices.

“The King. We must talk to The King at once.” Shouted Sir Elmer as the three of them rode their horses down the center aisle of the cathedral. “This is of the utmost importance; we must speak to The King at once.”

Their horses were exhausted from running so long. The poor things were sweating heavily under their armor, and they were bug-eyed and panting.

“It had better be of the utmost importance,” said The King to King Beauford.

The King stood in front of the altar. “Approach, sir knights. Tell me your news, and tell it quickly.”

Princess Icelandia and King Beauford came out of the little room. No one was watching them, and King Beauford wanted to see what was going on.

“My King, we were attacked by strange creatures. They have six or eight limbs, and they wiggle about like a bunch of snakes. They came from the sky in a huge mountain of metal that shines like the sun. They have weapons that we did not even understand.”

“Have you been eating the purple and yellow mushrooms that grow in strange places?” The King asked this very softly.

“No My King. This is real. We had to fight for our lives against these creatures from the sky. We...”

There was a very real feeling of disbelief among the Kings, Queens, Lords, and Ladies. Queen Margaret was heard to say, “I think they really do believe this. Poor men.” Some of the Kings were dreaming up imaginative punishments for the three knights.

“I want proof, sir knights. And I want it right now.” Prince Eric had never seen his Father this stern. If things did not turn around really quick, these three were destined for the deepest darkest dungeon there ever was.

For a long instant, there was silence in the cathedral. Then Sir Bob spoke.

“Look at Sir Harold and Sir Elmer. They got the blood from these things all over them.”

Sir Harold stepped up. His armor was full of holes. The fine steel plate armor was full of holes like an old garment that had been eaten by moths!

“Sir Harold, show them your sword.”

Sir Harold pulled out his sword. Or what was left of it. It was all rusted and corroded, with maybe half of it completely gone.

Sir Elmer also showed his sword. It too was pitted and corroded, but not as bad as Sir Harold’s. Somehow, the one he killed did not bleed as much.

“What happened? What could destroy fine Jeffersonian Steel like that?” Asked a dozen voices all at once.

“With this sword, I slashed into one of those creatures. It died writhing like a maggot. Its blood was a yellow-ochre color, and it splattered all over my armor. That is what made these holes in the plate steel. And my sword has been destroyed by the blood of this foul creature.” The voice of Sir Harold rang out in the cathedral.

Johanaston stood by the side of the altar, in the traditional place of honor. No one was paying any attention to him. It was a strange sensation for him. He made no effort to call attention to himself.

“Kings.” The King motioned with his fingers. The forty-seven kings of the forty-seven kingdoms got out of their plush ornate chairs and gathered around The King.

“My fellow Kings, this is an unexpected development. I knew nothing of it until this moment. This enemy must have planned to attack while we were celebrating the wedding. What is plain is that we must unite against them. Whatever they are, they had hoped to strike while we were celebrating, but we can turn this into an advantage. All the kings are here, right now. No need to send out messengers and wait for a reply. We need to resolve to stand together against this foe. Are you with me!!!”

Each King raised his right fist in affirmation. Talk quickly turned to who would move which regiment, and how quickly a combined army could be assembled. The King was given the honorary title of Lord Commander. Each King started looking for a courtier who could send a message back to his kingdom, ordering the army to mobilize. Everybody scattered in different directions.

A short time later.

Princess Icelandia stood alone in front of the altar. Prince Eric had gone off to God knows where. There would be no wedding today. Her bouquet of violets and primroses was beginning to wilt.